Michael’s Vaddo on South Anjuna beach originally started as a soup kitchen at Anjuna beach, to assist the growing numbers of foreign travelers who came to the area as a final stopping place on the "hippie trail", popularizing Goa, India as a tourist destination from the mid-1960s onward. The concept of a flea market was initiated by the hippies around 1975 mainly for the foreigners wanting to bart
er their unwanted possessions and "hang out". Today, Anjuna Flea Market is world famous for offering an astounding variety of shopping attractions, a lively place where a nonstop trance soundtrack sets the scene and hundreds of stalls sell everything from futuristic rave gear to hammocks. Vendors, sellers and participants come as early as 5 in the morning to start setting up their stalls. Business ends by sunset in the evening. Strategically situated on the sandy stretch overlooking the waves of the Arabian Sea, today's vast and bustling market, which transpires every Wednesday during the peak season (October-May) practically takes up the entire stretch of beach and the surrounding rice fields, offering everything and anything you could think of, from merchants across India, locally produced apparel, spices, local and international foods, and a contemporary fashion nirvana with jewellery and clothing made by international underground fashion designers.
